On the architecture of the rings of Saturn: An “identity” theory of the distribution of gaps within rings

Albers, Scott (2014): On the architecture of the rings of Saturn: An “identity” theory of the distribution of gaps within rings.

Abstract

In the physical world the “identity” of something is taken generally as a given; an apple is an apple; this apple is this apple. When dealing with planetary structure and extension into space, however, the problem of the planet’s “identity” in the surrounding cosmos is writ large. What does a planet’s “identity” imply? What functions must it take on? What internal logic holds it together as a functional “being” in the universe? A model of long-wave economic activity and crisis in the United States – “the Political Economy wave” – portrays the quest for social and economic “identity” with three simple curves: a sine curve over 56 years (20,454 days), a damping cosine curve of one-half the period of the sine curve, and the addition of these two in a “Political Economy Wave.” The logic of this wave is a recurring structure which shapes social “identity” over time. This paper compares the main peaks, intersections and troughs of the Political Economy wave for the United States, 1800-to-present, with the structure of the rings of Saturn, one of the most confounding structures known to science. At the present time gaps appear between rings which are unexplained; dynamism within the rings which should disperse the rings does not do so; edges of the rings are not diffuse but well defined; satellites between rings appear to have an impact but this is uncertain. Comparing these gaps with the various “crises” which predictably impact the “self identity,” the self-understanding, of society, this paper explores the possibility that the mathematics of identity may assist in the understanding of astrophysics, and possibly vice versa.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Rings of Saturn, Real GNP, Golden Mean, Phi, Kondratiev Wave, Global Financial Crisis, American Economic History, GNP Spiral, Okun’s Law, Revolution, Kaluza, Fifth Dimension, General Relativity, Astronomy
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B4 - Economic Methodology > B41 - Economic Methodology; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C0 - General > C01 - Econometrics; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C0 - General > C02 - Mathematical Methods; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling > C50 - General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods ; Programming Models ; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods ; Programming Models ; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling > C63 - Computational Techniques ; Simulation Modeling; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General > E01 - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth ; Environmental Accounts; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E1 - General Aggregative Models; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E1 - General Aggregative Models > E19 - Other; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles; N - Economic History > N0 - General > N00 - General; N - Economic History > N0 - General > N01 - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N11 - U.S. ; Canada: Pre-1913; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z10 - General; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

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